In Diaz Hope’s triptych, We
Are Special (2018 – 19), the official Presidential portraits of Barack
Obama and Donald Trump are rendered in photo gel capsules, their images
ensconced in ornate-gold frames that bookend a central panel: a framed mirror.
In referencing the ostentatious display of political portraiture, the work
encourages reflection on how visual cultures reify authority, while also asking
viewers to question their personal relationship to ongoing debates around
access to healthcare, and whether it is a universal right or an earned privilege.
By placing the mirror between the portraits of Obama and Trump, Diaz Hope
suggests that these debates require personal reflection by individuals, rather
than blind adherence to partisan politics. Diaz Hope references a Mr. Rogers
record that influenced him as child, You
Are Special, that had an mylar mirror on the album cover.